Salesian gets gritty with it, grinds out NCS Open semifinal win over De La Salle

Pride give up just five points in fourth quarter, get clutch play from Elias Obenyah and Leon Powe Jr. to outlast gritty, short-handed Spartans

Salesian's Carlton Perrilliat (21), shown here in a game last season vs. St. Joseph-Santa Maria, scored eight straight key points in the second quarter to help the Pride upend De La Salle Wednesday in North Coast Section Open Division semifinal action at Albany High School. / Photo: Greg Jungferman

ALBANY, Calif. — The 11-day layoff, Salesian coach Bill Mellis, was a small factor.

Battle-tested De La Salle, with a rugged front line, a third-year starting point guard Abrahim Monaward and a 10-year college coach, was a bigger factor.

Literally.

But the Pride, the state's No. 8 team with a sparkling 25-3 record and loads of experience, quickness and toughness, found a way to fight off the gritty Spartans to post a 54-51 Northern California Open Division semifinal win Wednesday at Albany High School.

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Salesian overcame an 11-point deficit early in the third quarter, finally took back the lead 50-49 since early in the first on a three-pointer from Asante Johnson with 4:40 remaining.

But more important on the play, Monawar, who had a team-high 16 points, came up calf cramping badly. He never returned.

The Spartans, following the pregame message by their coach Marcus Schroeder to "keep pushing forward," did that on a putback by 6-foot-7 post Mariano Lopez-Aarden to go back up 51-50 and 3:30 remaining.

Salesian hangs on. Barely. 54-51 over De La Salle. pic.twitter.com/95awgNIV0g

— Mitch Stephens (@MitchBookLive) February 26, 2026

But then Lopez-Aarden fouled out with 2:34 remaining and De La Salle (23-7), the defending Open Division champions, would go scoreless the rest of the way, scoring only five points the entire fourth quarter.

Down the stretch

Salesian, which got a game-high 17 points from Stanford-bound Elias Obenyah and 12 by Leon Powe Jr., had survived and will now play Clayton Valley Charter, a 55-50 winner over Dougherty Valley, in Saturday's championship at San Leandro High School.

Guard Elias Obenyah of Salesian (Calif.) finishes a two-handed dunk against St. Joseph in the Crush in the Valley showcase in Napa last season. The Stanford-bound star had a game-high 17 points in Wednesday's 54-51 win over De La Salle. / Photo by Greg Jungferman

"It was them more than the layoff," Salesian coach Bill Mellis said, the section's winningest active coach with 693 victories. "I think (De La Salle coach Marcus) Schroeder did a really good job with his game plan. They controlled the tempo. ... Down the stretch, we made a couple plays and got a couple offensive rebounds and made free throws. That was probably the difference."

There's usually not much difference when these two Bay Area private school powers match up.

This was their eighth matchup since 2013. Each has won four times. The cumulative score: De La Salle 390, Salesian 379.

Wednesday's game ultimately came down to the free-throw line.

Salesian made 18 of 24 on the night to just 5-for-8 for the Spartans, who were 1-for-4 from the stripe in the fourth quarter. Salesian was 6-for-9, including the last three points of the game, all by Isaiah Davis, two breaking a 51-51 tie with 2:34 left and one out of two with 21.3 ticks left.

That gave the Spartans a chance to tie, but with no timeouts, De La Salle didn't get a very good look. Austin See (11), who made three earlier 3s, chucked up a desperation one from between halfcourt and the top of the three that missed badly.

'Can't control the refs'

Davit Pachulia (11 points) got the rebound, rushed to the right flank, but his off-balance attempt with two players draped all over him, wasn't close either.

Asked if he was fouled on the last attempt, which if called would have meant three free throws, Pachulia said: "You can't control what the refs do or don't see," said the oldest son of former NBA champion Zaza Pachulia. "You have to keep playing."

Davit Pachulia comes down and drills a midrange jumper, two of his 16 points during a win over Lodi on Jan. 3, 2026 in the Sabrina Ionescu Showcase. Pachulia helped the Spartans fight tooth-and-nail against Salesian on Wednesday, with 11 points and nine rebounds. / Photo by Sam Stringer

But there was no playing after his final shot. The final horn sounded.

The Pride, particularly seniors Obenyah and Powe, heaved a big sigh of relief. They are the top seed and expected to finish their senior seasons with the program's 12th NCS title — all since 2006 — and only second Open championship after taking it 2024, the year they beat De La Salle in the finals.

"We just kept chipping away, chipping away until we came all the way back," Obenyah said. "I just think it was due to our experience we pulled it out. I think we have a lot of guys who have been there before."

But the Pride hasn't been down double digits often this season as they were after the Spartans started the third with a 6-0 run on jumper by Pachulia, and inside bucket by Lopez-Aarden and fastbreak layup by Monawar to go up 37-26.

'Stay together'

Said Powe: "We just had to stay together. Keep our heads up. We couldn't worry about the score and just chip away, point by point."

Within four minutes the score was tied at 40-40 on two free throws by Obenyah. The 14-3 run was started with a three-pointer by Asante Johnson and a putback by Powe.

With big men Lopez-Aarden and Olanre Owoborode (10 rebounds, four blocks) saddled with four fouls each, Schroeder was forced to sit his bigs down.

Monawar, who has fasted all week during the daytime hours in honor of Ramada and his Muslim faith, was a warrior on the court, snapping a 42-42 tie with back-to-back fastbreak buckets to go up 46-42. Down low, reserve big men James Bush and Ashton Preston fought hard against the physical Pride.

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"I was proud of competitive nature and fight tonight," said Schroeder, who in his fifth season as De La Salle head coach after assisting 10 years at St. Mary's College. "Our guys battled through adversity. (Bush and Preston) gave us a huge lift off the bench."

It's a partnership

The Spartans battled throughout the fourth, even after Monawar left and Lopez-Aarden fouled out. But the Pride had just too much savvy, experience, grit and depth, keyed by fourth-year starters Obenyah and Carlton Perrilliat Jr., who scored eight of his nine points in the second quarter, and fourth-year letterman Powe Jr., who came off the bench on Wednesday.

"I think everybody put a big partnership into this win," Powe said. "When we all stick together no one can beat us."

Asante Johnson puts Salesian up 50-49 with 3 from corner. 4:40 4Q. Bigger concern for De La Salle’s, Monawar goes down looks like cramping. Might not return. Huge. pic.twitter.com/9oHynbUNEG

— Mitch Stephens (@MitchBookLive) February 26, 2026

Though much was made of the 11-day layoff, Mellis pointed out his team has gotten used to it over the last three or four years. He admitted though, the Pride was "was out of it. We had bad body language, our energy wasn't good."

Thus came the timeout early in the third.

"I just challenged them," he said. "it was like, 'hey, snap out of it!' "

And over the next four minutes they did and now they'll face a team it played in the Foundation Game to start the season. It's a glorified scrimmage with no score being taken. It didn't count toward either team's record.

They have identical sparkling 25-3 marks. The programs haven't met in a regular season game since at least 2004.

"He (Clayton Valley coach Frankie Allocco Jr.) does such a good job," Mellis said. "I have such respect for him and his dad. He's gonna have that team ready to play and we're gonna have our hands full for sure."

Score to settle

De La Salle will get a rematch with Dougherty Valley for the third-place game. Unlike the other NCS divisions, all participants in the Open Division move on, so the third-place game is simply for seeding purposes.

Ibrahim Monawar, shown here during De La Salle 28-5 season in 2024-25, led the Spartans to a big North Coast Section Open Division opening night win on Feb. 19, 2026 with a team-high 17 points, 15 coming after halftime. In a semifinal loss to Salesian on Wednesday he had a team-high 16 points before leaving midway through fourth quarter with calf issues. / Photo by Dennis Lee

But Pachulia noted Dougherty Valley defeated the Spartans for the East Bay Athletic League playoff championship, 70-59, after the Spartans won the regular-season game 75-66.

"We have a big score to settle there, so we'll be fired up," Pachulia said.

Even though the Spartans came up short on Wednesday, Pachulia liked how his team competed: "

"We prepared so hard and honestly, we gave it 110%," Pachulia said. "Right now it's not the best feeling to come up short. But I know in a couple of days, we'll look back and say we gave it our all but just fell a little short. It's back to the drawing board."

Clayton Valley Charter 55, Dougherty Valley 50: According to the Bay Area News Group, Cannon Simpson had 21 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and two blocks, while Vince Ellis and Zion Grissom combined for 22 as the host Eagles won a great contrast in styles. Clayton Valley, which allows just over 37 points per game, kept the game at their pace against the fast-pace Wildcats (21-9).

Salesian boys basketball coach Bill Mellis, coaching intently in a summer event in 2024, is approaching 700 wins, the most of any active coach in Northern California. / Photo: Todd Shurtleff